A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF POLAND

By Prof. W. J. Wagner

WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS, an average Westerner is not familiar with the history of Poland which is fascinating and completely different from that of other countries. Its main features are: on the international scene, unwillingness to use force, and on the internal forum - early introduction of democracy and recognition of human rights.

It is remarkable that after the extinction of the Piast Dynasty in 1370, Poland did not wage aggressive wars and expanded its territory and influence by voluntary unions with some neighboring nations which were attracted to it by its culture and spirit of freedom.

Yes, history registered some famous feats of the Polish army, but they were performed during defensive rather than offensive wars, and the defense was either that of their own country or that of other friendly nations, in accordance with the well known Polish dictum that "we fight for our and your freedom". Because of the fact that for centuries the Polish forces were stopping invasions of the "infidels" from the East - the Turks and the Tartars (Mongols) - Poland merited the well deserved nickname, "the bulwark of Christianity".

Thus, King Henry the Pious defeated the Tartars, but perished, in 1241 at the battle of Legnica; King Ladislas suffered the same fate in 1444 at Varna, in distant Bulgaria; and in 1683 King John III Sobieski delivered Vienna from a siege by the Turks and saved Europe from their invasion. A more modern event was the defeat of the Red Army, ready to conquer all Europe, at Warsaw in 1920.

The most important union of Poland was that with Lithuania, which began as a personal union in Krewo, in 1385, and ended as a strict federation by virtue of the Union of Lublin of 1569.
The united countries were for some time the largest European state, stretching from the Baltic sea to the Black sea. Poland did not accept the traditional European method of conducting international relations by conquest, murder of thousands of people and destruction of hundreds of towns and villages.

Another unusual feature of Polish heritage was religious tolerance and respect of the ideas of everyone. By the "Confederation of Warsaw" of 1573 the Parliament - Seyrn - guaranteed the freedom of religious beliefs. Poland was the only significant European country where there were no cruel and devastating religious wars. Also, it should be mentioned than Poland was probably the only country in which no king was assassinated on the initiative of its own citizens.

Contrary to the developments in other countries surrounding Poland, the authoritarian rule of the monarch began to be limited as early as the end of the XIV cent. In 1374, King Louis granted to the nobility "The Privilege of Kosice" by virtue of which no new taxes would be imposed without the consent of the gentry expressed in local as assemblies, the "dietines". This was an important step in the development of the "rule by the people", because, as justice Marshall stated, "the power to tax is the power to destroy."

A few other important marks in the process of depriving the Polish rulers of their absolute power were the following: The Act "Neminem Captivabimus Nisi lure Victum" was granted by King Ladislas Jagiello in 1432. It was called the Privilege of Jedinia. The king gave up his power to arrest any nobleman without an order issued by a court. In effect, this established the principle of the rule of law rather than of men. A similar "Habeas Corpus Act" was adopted in England in 1679.

In 1454 the "Statutes of Nieszawa" marked the beginning of the Polish parliamentary system.
The institution of "dietines" became permanent and the king was to consult them before making new laws. In 1496 the Seyrn met in Piotrkow and was to meet regularly. Soon after, by the "Constitution" called "Nihili Novi" of 1505, it was decided that no new law would be enacted without a common consent of the three chambers of the Seym: the king, the senate and the lower house.

During the reign of the Piast dynasty, the dignity of the king was hereditary. For another two hundred years, during the period of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the system was not quite the same, because the oldest son of the monarch would assume the succession of the throne only after being confirmed by the nobles (which happened always). Then, a unique principle was applied in Poland: the king was elected by the general assembly of the nobles.

In 1573 after the end of the Jagiellonians, another idea was accepted: before assuming his duties, the king had to take an oath on two points: one of them to respect all laws and privileges of the Kingdom, the so-called Henrician Articles (from the name of Henry, the elected king), and the other one, the "pacta conventa", a kind of a contract which the king-elect would enter into with the nation. The terms were different each time and were the result of negotiations between the nobles and the ruler-elect.

The oath taken by the king was not an empty declaration. By the statute known as "De non Prestanda Oboedientia" a king who would violate his promises and break the law even after admonitions of the Primate of the country could not continue in his office and would automatically release the citizens from all obligations owed him. Such an event never happened, but the possibility of its occurrence was always present.

The pinnacle of the development of the Polish democracy was the adoption of the Constitution of May 3, 1791, the oldest in Europe. It was followed by the "Uniwersal Polaniecki", issued in 1794 by the "Naczelnik" (Leader) Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Polish and American hero, which granted rights to the peasants, deprived of the same status as the nobility in contemporary Europe.

Some historians argue that the Polish system, juxtaposed with the militarism of the surrounding countries, weakened the Kingdom and prevented it from effectively defending it. Russia, Prussia and Austria finally dismembered Poland in 1795. However, judging by the standards of today, there was hardly any excess of democratic institutions or exaggerated human rights. What was called "privileges" in old times was just the recognition of basic civil attributes of the citizens.